Montreal Tech Watch

Last friday, 30 to 40 people gathered at engineering school ETS with the goal of producing a game in just one weekend. It was nice to see the organizing team Conjure inviting designers, writers and artists for the weekend, plus also attendees from outside Montréal. That’s how you get pioneering ideas!

The event is part of the Global Game Jam, a worldwide event highlighting innovation, creativity and experimentation. A staggering total of 1,400 games were registered worldwide for the event.

At ETS, the attendees broke into teams, equivalent to 10 games, after a long brainstorming on possible concepts Friday. Not all games got finished on Sunday. A few had trouble in team management & communication, technical issues, or with work prioritization. All attendees gave 100% of their energy to the weekend though. It’s rare to see someone so dedicated to a job that they’ll stay near their desk for 3 days, bringing over their sleeping bags, energy bars and drinks!

We’ve got games like Sumi-E, which plays on the theme of dissolving memories.

Sumi-E was picked up by the jury as the best of the weekend, as it has a good balance of art, gameplay, completeness and also a clear future potential. Perhaps on a flash website or on touchscreen tablet? It would make a hit on the Apple Store!

Other games like Fataliste had great art direction, while other games like Dead Sperm offered a simple, quick and fun experience. Like in all other games, it was impressive to see that a couple of programmers could get a game running in just 3 days, with graphics, sound, game mechanics, levels, all implemented. There was also a hex board game called Acceptance, Negotiation, depression, showcasing the diversity of the games produced during the event.

Other games were: FADE, DiscoDuck, Rovo, Space Escape, The enemy within, SQRL.

A panel of judges made of experienced producers/designers from Montréal’s video games studios and reps from IGDA came Sunday. The panel praised (rightfully) the work done by everyone, and also encouraged to work more on the presentation and marketing of the ideas. They saw the value of the games, and each said it’s a perfect start for a video games career!

If you were at the Global Games Jam, congratulations! There isn’t much compared to the experience of racing for 3 days, giving all you’ve got to get something working in what seems to be an impossible deadline.

Congratulations also to the organizing team for getting this together in Montreal.

The winning team behind Sumi-E

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